Dr. Marianna Marchesi is an architect and design researcher. Her research interests concern the application of innovative and effective strategies for the development of sustainable architecture including the implementation of efficient and affordable construction methods such as building prefabrication.

Dr. Marchesi hold a Master degree in Architecture at the University of Ferrara (Italy), and later an academic two-year postgraduate degree in Sustainable Architecture at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy). There she also obtained a Ph.D. in Sustainable Energy and Technologies focused on Design Research for supporting the prefabricated building industry on the design development of customized quality houses at affordable costs. Her PhD research was developed in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, Cambridge USA) where she spent a year of study and research. This research achieved remarkable outcomes published in peer- reviewed journals and a Springer book.

For several years, Dr. Marchesi has been involved in the development of sustainable architecture by research and practice. As a researcher, she worked at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano for two years within a team and autonomously on the development of high-performance building designs and technologies in collaboration with the prefabricated building industry. She published these research outcomes in technical manuals and scientific papers. Currently she is involved in the implementation of the circular economy in building design for the development of sustainable architecture. This is the main aim of the H2020-MSCA-IF research proposal just presented in collaboration with the Welsh School of Architecture (Cardiff University, UK) and Arup Foresight (London, UK). As an architect, she has worked on architectural design, building technologies and construction management previously in architectural firms for four years, and then, as a freelance architect, performing the design process from the concept to the technical design and construction in collaboration with building contractors, technicians and suppliers for the development of full-integrated high-performance building solutions.